Taped seam for sewed articles.



E. B. ALLEN.

TAPED SEAM FOR SEWED ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1911.

1,030,446, Patented June 25, 1912.

WITNESSES: mam/r01? v 7(W1Q 41mm; flaw A TTORNEV To all whom it mayconcern:

EDWARD B. ALLEN, or BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, AssIGNoR' TO THE srNGERMANU- FACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSE' TAPED SEAM FORSEWED ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1912.

Application filed July 8, 1911. Serial No. 637,407. v

Be it known that-l, EDWARD B. A LEN, a citizen of the United States,residlng at .Bridgeport, inthe county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ta edSeams for Sewed Articles, of which the ollowing is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanyingdrawings.

This invention relates to a means of uniting the abutting edges of heavywoven materials such as carpets, and particularly for such articles asrugs wherein breadths' of material are abutted and united by ablindstitch seam; and it has for its object to protect the edges of thefabric from fraying out when the article is cleaned by heatingorotherwise or when repeatedly rolled and unrolled for display tocustomers in retail stores. I

The invention consists essentially intwo body fabrics having theiredgesabutted and covered by a stretched elastic tape and united by a line ofstitching entering and emerging from the same side of the tape anddisposed transversely of the abutting edges of the body fabrics.

In order to insure against theexposure 1 of the stitching upon the-faceof the fabric,

it has been common heretofore to arch the marginal portions of thefabric with their backs exposed to the stitch forming mechastretchingthe same both edgewise and fabrics in their arche nism in such mannerthat a stitching thread was caused to-enter and emerge from the convexface or back of the fabrics on opposite sides of their junction; amechanism suitable for such operation forming the subject of my UnitedStates Patent No. 524 996, of August 28, 1904. Were the ordinaryinelastic tape merely laid over the abutted edges and stitched down bythe same uniting stitches, the flattening out of the article wouldproduce a crimp .or fold in theprotecting tape along the seam and wouldthus form an objectionable ridgeupon the under face; but by employing anelastic tape and len thWise pre arator to appl ing the fasteni nstitched, the ullness provided for covering the marginal ortions of thetwo relation for the stitching operation is taken in, when the articleis flattened out, by the elasticity of the tape which latter is thusermitted to lie flat without puckering or wrinkling.

The invention will be understood by reference to the accompafiyingdrawing, in which Figure/1 is a perspective view of the two body fabricswith their adjacent marginal portions arched and their edges abuttedwith the overlying stretched elastic tape secured thereto by the unitingline of stitching; and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the same partswith the fabric flattened out subsequent to" stitching, and representingin full lines the contracted width of the'covering tape and in dot-tedlines the ,width of the latter as it is stretched for the stitchingopera-' tion.

The carpet sections '1 and 2 are each formed with an inelastic wovenback 1 and 2*, respectively, and with a face composed of the piles 1 and2 the backs being shown uppermost in the drawings. The marginal portionsof the carpet sections are arched and their adjacent edges are abuttedat 3; as shown in Fig. 1, and over the abut-ted edges is applied theelastic knitted strip or tape 4 which is in practice stretched bothendwise and sidewise to cover a considerably greater area than itnaturally occupies. The line of fastening stitches is shown applied withloops of one thread 5 passed through one of the margins of'the tape 4and thence successively through the carpet sections 1 and 2 and acrossthe abutted edges of the latter,'and*through the other margin of thecovering tape from which it emerges upon the same face that it enteredat the other side of the joint of the carpet sections, the loops ofneedle-thread being shown interlooped wit-h loops of looper-thread 6.

. As will be observed by reference to Fig. 2, l

ing and permits the same to shrink from the width represented in dottedlines at 4 to that represented in full lines at 4 in said figure, thetape still remaining taut in its flattened condition, and thereforeincreasing the thickness of the carpet or rug at the joint merely-by itsown thickness, which is comparatively little.

While 'any suitable means may .be provided for applying the tape, Iprefer to employ, in conjunction with the carpet sewing machine beforereferred to, a binding guide similar in general form to that representedin my Patent No. 600,502, of March 15,1898,

but provided with a tension device for producing a drag upon the tape asit is drawn through the binder, with means such as is shown in my PatentNo. 600,503 of the same date for stretching the tape edgewise at bothsides of the center. It is found desirable in practice to stretch thetape lengthwise as well as sidewise, as the latter alone, if effectedprogressively and correspondingly with the progress of the stitching,tends to draw in or shorten the tape lengthwise so as to produce aslight fullness when the article is flattened out subsequent tostitching.

While the abutted edges of the body fabrics may in some cases be coveredby an overseam to prevent raveling occasioned by the repeated handlingof a rug or other article composed of united breadths of fabric, aknitted tape is less expensive and more effective as a protection forthe edges of the fabric, especially as a high grade of Irish fiax threadis at present required by the trade for stitching together the componentbreadths or sections of a carpet or rug.

It is evident that the exact texture of the fabrics employed and thecharacter of the stitching used to unite them are not essential to thepresent invention, which is sus- V name to this specification, in thepresence of ceptible of modification in certain respects from theembodiment shown and described herein.

Having-thus set forth the. nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis 1. A seam for sewed articles comprising two body fabrics with abuttededges, an elastic tape overlying said abutted edges, and a uniting lineof stitching passing through said body fabrics and across their abuttededges and through the opposite margins of the tape.

2. A seam for sewed articles comprising two inelastic body fabrics withabutted edges, an elastic tape overlying-said abutted edges, and auniting line of stitching passing through said body fabrics and acrosstheir abutted edges and through the oppo: site margins of the tape.

3. A seam for sewed articles comprising two -body fabrics with abuttededges, an elastic tape overlying said abutted edges, and a uniting lineofstitching passing once through each of said body fabrics and twicethrough said tape.

.41. A seam for sewed articles comprising two body fabrics with abuttededges, :1.

stretched elastic tape overlying said abutted edges, and a line ofstitching for uniting together said abutted edges and the overlyingtape, said stitching passing through the body fabrics and across theirabutted edges and through the margins of the tape.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my two subscribing witnesses.

I EDWARD B. ALLEN. 1 Witnesses:

HENRY J MILLER, HENRY A. Konnnmann, Jr.

